HEFEI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Courts in China accepted 41.2 percent more intellectual property rights (IPR) cases in 2018 as the country stepped up a crackdown on IPR infringement.

Chinese courts accepted 334,951 civil, administrative and criminal IPR cases in 2018, an increase of 97,709 cases from 2017, according to a white paper released by the Supreme People's Court in the eastern city of Hefei on Monday.

Song Xiaoming, head of the IPR Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court, said the first instance civil IPR cases newly accepted by courts in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong accounted for 65.4 percent of all the country.

China has intensified the clampdown on IPR infringement to better protect rights and interests.